


let the pictures come

by CallofTheCurlew



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Big Steps, Instagram, M/M, Photos, Pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 10:03:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16406324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallofTheCurlew/pseuds/CallofTheCurlew
Summary: Some pictures are worth posting.





	let the pictures come

Phil has been taking pictures on the floor for more than twenty minutes, but something isn’t right.

He grunts in frustration, turning his head on an even bigger angle, but it creates rolls under his chin and he’s not body-positive enough to be okay with that. He slaps an Instagram filter over his face but it just makes his cheeks bulge. He groans again. 

“You alright over there?”

“My selfies suck. I’m having a bad face day.”

“More like a bad face life,” Dan quips automatically, glancing over at Phil quickly to ensure he’s not offended.

Phil isn’t. Dan just says things sometimes in response to other words, like a crap game of word association. They rarely ever mean anything.

“What are you taking it for? What’s the occasion?”

Phil shrugs, “The ‘I haven’t posted anything on Instagram in a while’ occasion.”

“Fair,” Dan nods, scooting down the couch so he’s closer and reaching for Phil’s phone.

He scrolls through the last twenty minutes of rejected selfies, picking out the ones he likes, but ultimately he finishes with, “Yeah, they’re not _stunning_. Some of them are nice, but-”

“Can we do one together?”

Dan grumbles, “I look like shit.”

“Pretty cute to me. Come on, please? I won’t post it. I just want sleepy, adorable, us-photos.”

“...Fine,” Dan’s grumbling again, but he doesn’t mean it, given that he gave up so easily.

Phil beams, lifting himself up onto the couch so they're level. They take photos; some of them are silly, the others are just them smiling, or looking vacant (for aesthetic, apparently). They don’t often do this - ‘photoshoots’ are often reserved for new merch, or outdoors when there’s better lighting. But it’s kind of nice.

For a few photos, Dan scoots even closer, curling himself around Phil and pressing a kiss to his cheek for one of the shots. He’s cuddly today, but it doesn’t bother Phil. He encourages it, a lot of the time, and getting a photo of it makes his heart happy. He loves having something to look back on when he needs it most; when Dan isn’t with him.

They end on a couple of normal ones before Dan calls it quits, sick of staring at a camera. Phil pulls up the gallery and together they delete the gross/blurry/unattractive ones.

Dan lingers on the cheek kiss.

He experiments with a few filters, throwing a black and white one onto it, before staring at it carefully.

It’s cute. Both of them have their eyes closed - Phil’s head is tilted downwards with the sweetest, fondest smile on his face. Dan’s leaning in, the lower half of his face pressed against Phil’s cheek. It’s unlike any kind of photo they’ve taken before.

“You could post this one.”

His voice is so quiet, so tentative. The very thought sends goosebumps up Phil’s arms

“Dan…?”

He shrugs, “Just- I mean...you could.”

It’s not an outlandish suggestion. It’s been close to ten years, and it’s all too clear that their relationship is part of their fanbase. It always has been if they’re honest, but that was never something they wanted to admit in the beginning. They never discussed ‘coming out’ - they didn’t need or want that - but the tight belt they'd kept on all of their interactions in public has been slowly let out over the last few years. They’re on the last few notches now.  

It wouldn’t surprise anyone. Nobody would mind. The ones that did, Dan and Phil didn’t want as fans anyway.

“I could.” Phil says quietly, “There’d be no going back.”

“But no obligation to move forward,” Dan replies, his eyes serious as he watches Phil, “There doesn’t have to be progression here. Just a moment.”

Phil glances down at the photo again, swallowing thickly.

“Let’s sleep on it. I don’t want you to- I don’t want to just…regret it.”

Dan nods sensibly, “Of course. Can you send me the photo? I... I actually really like it.”

Phil grins, sending it through in a text. He leans forward, pressing a kiss to Dan’s cheek in return.

They’re both quiet for the rest of the day; thoughtful, both of them rationalising, thinking and justifying their decisions.

In the morning, they post it.  

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog [this fic](https://callofthecurlew.tumblr.com/post/179415323725/let-the-pictures-come) on Tumblr?  
> Ooof. Two bingo cards, ten fics, one month, 25,733 words. I feel like one of them was a bit of a flop but 9/10 isn't bad. Look at what we achieved! Thank you to everyone who has been reading, commenting, kudos-ing, I really appreciate it! Updates will be slower now I'm not slamming out fics for a challenge, but you can bet I'll be in on the next one for the phandomficfests, and I think I'll be participating in the reversebang as well. Annnd maybe some other content too, if it ends up working out for me! Thanks guys!


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